Supernatural: The Rapture (Episode 20)
by Ivy Milligan-Winchester
Summary: Things heat up as The Winchesters start to unravel the secrets around Ivy


Ivy walked up to Sam and Dean's hotel. She pulled her coat tighter around herself and shivered again. Ever since the Wendigo, every few nights a terror had gripped her dreams. She walked up to their room and knocked on the door. She knew without a doubt that someone would be up. Sure enough, Sam opened the door.

Ivy stepped inside warily, mumbling a small, "Hello." to Sam.

He nodded, and, as she sat on the couch, went to get a snack for them.

As he came back with a bowl of chips, she asked him, "Did you get in touch with Cas yet?"

Sam rolled his eyes, shook his head no, and sat on the couch next to her. Flipping on the small, scratchy TV, he surfed the channels for something good to watch. Ivy found nothing interesting, and slowly drifted off. She dreamed of the first time she had met Castiel:

_Dean and Bobby had tried to summon Cas. Ivy had, disobeying Dean's "orders", hidden behind an old albeit sturdy shelf to watch. Though she was experienced in symbols and ancient spells, she had never seen an angel being summoned before, and was eager to. Dean and Bobby drew the symbols; they worded the spells. Ivy's eyes widened in anxiousness and surprise as…nothing happened. _

_"What the hell did we do wrong?" Dean asked. _

_Bobby shrugged. "Search me." _

_ Ivy was just about to expose herself when suddenly a strong wind blew up the roof tiles, making a loud screeching noise. _

_ "Coincidence?" Bobby asked. _

_ Suddenly, the lights on the ceiling blew their fuses one by one, creating showers of sparks. Through them, Dean could see someone walking towards him and Bobby. It was a tall man with slightly messy dark brown hair and teal blue eyes. He was wearing a white shirt, blue tie, and beige trench coat reaching down to his feet. Dean and Bobby stood blocking his way, guns in hand. As the man advanced, Dean and bobby cocked their weapons. Ivy closed her eyes as shots rang out until both men's guns were empty. Ivy opened her eyes as she heard guns drop to the floor. The man was still quickly, briskly, advancing on Dean and Bobby. Ivy nearly yelled when she saw the holes in his coat, bullet holes. Yet there was no blood. Meanwhile, the man had reached Dean. He strode over to Bobby, and placed a hand to Bobby's head. Bobby's eyes rolled up and he collapsed to the floor. Ivy stifled her breathing as the man came close to the shelf. _

_He turned away and Ivy breathed relief, however, as Dean asked, "Who are you?" _

_ The man, not bothering to look at Dean, answered in a deep, hoarse, voice, "Castiel." _

_ Ivy gasped. It _was_ an angel. Dean, however, nodded sarcastically. _

_ "Yeah, I got that. I mean, what are you?" _

_Castiel looked at Dean now. "I'm an angel." _

_ Ivy gasped, but stifled it before Castiel or worse, Dean, heard. _

_"Yeah, right, shut the hell up." Dean said. "What are you really?" _

_ Castiel turned to face Dean full-on, and suddenly thunder and lightning flashed. Lightning streaks cast shadows on the warehouse wall, and Ivy gasped. For when Castiel cast a shadow, it wasn't just his body you'd see. The shadows on the wall formed wings behind him, on his shadow. They slowly unfurled, and the sound of angel wings flapping could be heard faintly. Ivy gasped, not bothering to stifle it in the din. But perhaps she should have, for through all the racket, through the lightning and the shadows, she could have sworn she saw Castiel glancing her way. As she gazed into his teal-blue eyes, she had the strangest sense of deja-vu, as if she had seen him somewhere before. _

Ivy woke with a start, with the face of Castiel still in her mind. She smiled, remembering back to when she had formally met him.

_Later on that same night, when Dean had revived Bobby, Castiel had decided to go with them to their place. Ivy had had to jump out of her hiding spot as soon as they left, and speed down the road. She had, thank God, gotten to their hotel room first, where Sam was waiting with a smug expression on her face. It disappeared, however, as Sam saw her pale face. _

_"What happened?" he asked her. _

_ She looked at him. "He did it. They summoned an angel. Castiel."_

_Ivy opened her mouth to say more, but at that moment Dean stomped through the door, towing Bobby, with Castiel close behind. Ivy turned away from Dean, pretending to go into the kitchen but really trying to hide the guilty look on her face. Ivy leaned on the counter, trying to get her rapid breathing under control. After a moment she heard a gruff, "Excuse me," and Castiel walked grimly into the kitchen. He looked straight into her eyes, and she felt like he was looking at her soul. His eyes were so blue and clear and serious that he may as well have been. _

_ Or at least her mind, because after a few minutes he said to her, "How did you like my…entrance?" _

_ She shrugged. _

_ "Swell." _

_ Castiel looked at her for a second, head tilted to the side, and then asked, "What? What does that mean?" _

_ Ivy smirked, remembering he was an angel who had never been to Earth before. _

_ "Never mind. It was cool." She said. _

_She and Castiel exited the kitchen, him still looking fairly puzzled. Dean looked up from the book he was poring over as they came into the main room. _

_"Castiel, this is—" he tried to introduce Ivy, but Castiel interrupted. _

_"This is Ivy, or Poison Ivy. She likes that nickname, but does not like people calling her that. It is strictly for reputation. She also likes danger, but she hates evil. She is experienced in drawing and vocally casting spells. Her last name is—" _

_At that Castiel stopped. He glanced at Ivy, but she seemed reluctant to say anything. Dean raised his eyebrows, but Castiel quickly changed the subject. Ivy said nothing either. She seemed either astonished by the angel's powers, or disinclined to finish Castiel's sentence. Sam shrugged and looked away, though his face was clearly very puzzled, and Dean continued talking to Bobby and, occasionally, Castiel. _

_"Ivy! Sam!" _

_ In the indecent hours of the morning, Dean shouted for his partners. Sam groaned and rolled over, pulling a pillow over his head, but Ivy jumped up. _

_"Dean! What is it?" _

_ Running to his side, she glimpsed words on the pages of a book before Dean slammed it shut in a frenzy. "Dad's still alive!" he shouted. _

_He grabbed Ivy by the hands. "Ivy! He's alive!" _

_Ivy looked into Dean's eyes, then said, "You're shot up on caffeine, aren't you?" _

_Dean sighed. _

_ "Maybe. But look!" _

_Dean showed Ivy a piece of paper, on which the title was…_Angels._ Ivy gasped, and skimmed through it. It was John Winchester's writing, all right, but that wasn't what had caught Ivy's eye. There, at the bottom of the page, was a paragraph about _Angel's Souls_. _

_ Dean saw it at about the same time as Ivy, and asked, "Do angels have souls?" _

_ Ivy looked at Dean, annoyed. _

_ "Do you want me to read it for you?" she asked sarcastically. Dean smirked, but Ivy read aloud anyways. _

_"It is believed that angels do not have souls, but my research shows they may have. Not in their body, though. Angel's souls are said to reside in other people, demon, human, or otherwise. Quite literally, soul mates." _

_Ivy looked to the bottom of the paragraph now._

_"These Soul Mates are sometimes easy to point out, but sometimes it is harder to identlfy them." Ivy paused. Something at the bottom of the page caught her eye. It was a section of the paper, with scrawled words on it. It read "CASTIEL = ?" _

_ Ivy looked at Dean. _

_"How does your dad…" _

_ Dean shrugged. "Search me." _

_Ivy sighed, and was about to go back to bed, but Dean grabbed her arm. _

_"Today, when Cass was reading your mind, why didn't he finish his sentence?" _

_ Ivy looked down, blushing. _

_"Which one?" she said, playing dumb. _

_"Your last name." Dean said. Ivy sighed, and looked at Dean, a look of almost-bewilderment on her face. _

_"I don't remember it." _

Ivy sighed, coming back to reality. After that first meeting, the friendship between Ivy and Cass had, well, grown until it was a romance. Cass himself had explained that angel's only loves were their souls. Suddenly, Dean jumped up from the bed in the next room, making the rusty springs shriek. Ivy and Sam both looked at him, surprised, to say the least. But Dean didn't care. He had a look of concentration on his face.

"We need to get to Cass. Now."

Sam, Dean, and Ivy drove to an old abandoned warehouse, where Dean claimed the Cass had said to meet him in a dream. Ivy gasped in horror as they walked in. There were blood-red symbols all over the walls, everything in the place turned upside-down or crushed into rubble.

"Cass? _Castiel!_" Ivy yelled, clearly panicking.

Sam put a hand on her arm. "Ivy, calm down. We'll find him."

Ivy shook Sam's arm off, her eyes wide and fearful. "You don't understand. Something happened here. I can feel it. He's hurt."

Dean's eyes widened. "Where is he? Can we help him? Is he going to be okay?"

Ivy shrugged. "I—I can't feel much of anything else. It's like…he's not here anymore."

Suddenly, the three heard a groan coming from behind yet another pile of rubble. They ran over, picking their way through the debris, until they found Castiel. Sam and Dean helped him up as Ivy stood back, wanting to rush to him.

But something was wrong.

"Cass! What happened? Why did you want to see me?"

Cass didn't answer, but Ivy did.

"It—It's not…it's not Castiel."

"No, I'm not Castiel." the man said suddenly. Ivy gasped.

"I…I—I know that…voice…"

Ivy, without another word, turned and ran for the wide door, and before Sam, Dean, or whoever the man was could chase her, Ivy was gone.

Sam and Dean took the man back to their hotel room (Ivy wasn't there.), where they gave him some food and questioned him about Castiel.

"My name is Jimmy Novak. I am—was Castiel's vessel. I prayed for it."

Dean shook his head, not daring to believe what the man, Jimmy was telling them. "So you're saying he possessed you?"

Jimmy nodded, eating with enthusiasm. "I had faith. Castiel said that I was the chosen one."

Sam scrutinized the man. Maybe it _was_ Cass. Maybe he'd just gotten his memory wiped, or something. But Sam threw away that theory early. This Jimmy, his voice was different, higher than Castiel's. And Sam didn't think someone could forget their soul. Jimmy didn't seem to know anything about Ivy, and if he did, he wasn't telling. Sam decided to find out.

"Do you know who that girl was, back at the warehouse?"

Jimmy hesitated, then shook his head. The pause did not go unnoticed with Dean.

"So do you know her?"

Jimmy hesitated again, and again shook his head.

With a pang of sadness, Dean imagined Cass, answering that question. "It is not of import.", he would have said in his rough, cute voice. Dean silently cursed Cass. Why did he have to leave them?

Jimmy yawned, and Sam pointed to the bedroom.

"You can sleep there if you want."

Jimmy nodded his thanks, and walked out of the room. Dean noticed he left the trench coat on the chair with another pang of sorrow.

Later that night, Jimmy was lying on the bed, sleeping silently, and Dean was on the couch, murmuring, "Pie….", and snoring. Sam, however, was up. He moved silently, though his whole body was shaking, and slowly made his way to the door and down to Dean's coal-black Impala. Tremors getting worse, Sam reached the car with clumsy steps, and sat down heavily on the hood of the car. He pulled out a small silver flask from his pocket, and slowly poured out some of the liquid inside onto his palm.

It was red and glistening.

Sam licked his palm hungrily, lapping up the blood. He closed his eyes and smiled crookedly. His body was completely still now. Sam upended the flask over his hand.

Only a few drops came out.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Novak climbed out of bed and made his way to the _back_ door. Eventually he would have to walk around to the front of the building, but this was a safer exit, since the big guy, Sam, wasn't in the room. Jimmy closed his eyes and savored the sweet memories he had been without for so long. He had remembered something, something he hadn't told Dean and Sam. He remembered he had a family, and a little girl. He was going to get his life back.

"I'm done with all this angel crap." He muttered, stalking out into the night.

Jimmy crossed around to the front of the building, and stopped dead in his tracks. Sam was sitting there on the car hood, eating something off of his palm. Probably crack or something, Jimmy thought. He wouldn't put it past these two nut jobs. As soon as Sam turned around, putting a silver flask back into the Impala, Jimmy stole out from behind the building.

In about an hour he was on the next bus to Getting His Life Back.

The next morning, the Winchester's hotel room was filled with the sound of Dean's voice.

"Tell me, Mr. Light-Sleeper Night-Guard, how did Cass's meatsuit get away if you were watching him so closely?"

Sam shrugged, phone to his ear. Dean shrugged back, and walked into the other room to get the last of their things before they left. When Sam was sure Dean was gone, he spoke into the phone.

"Ruby, I'm all out. I need more. I'm all…out." Sam said to Ruby's voicemail, getting fiercer and fiercer as he talked. He shut the phone, feeling so angry that he thought he could have crushed the phone in his hand. Dean walked back into the room with a bag slung over his shoulder.

"Let's go get this meatsuit."

Meanwhile, Jimmy Novak crossed his green lawn, walked up the steps to his porch, and raised a hand to ring the doorbell. However, he paused, thinking back to the few memories that had come back to him since his possession.

_Sitting down, lightly dozing in front of the television, alone, Jimmy had woken up to find it scratchy and buzzing with static. Sighing, he went to it, and rapped on the screen with his knuckles. It seemed to be giving out a high-pitched sound that hurt his ears. The noise steadily got louder, and Jimmy got more and more wary. Suddenly, the noise reached an unbearable level, and Jimmy fell to the floor, writhing, hands over his ears. _

Jimmy opened his eyes, as if jerking out of a nightmare, but as he did, a new memory came back to him. His body spasmed as the memory shot through his body and mind.

_He was in the kitchen, his right hand submerged up to the elbow in boiling water. He, though, couldn't feel anything. Suddenly, the front door of his home opened, and a girl walked in. It wasn't his wife, Amelia, he could see that…but he had the feeling he knew her, had seen her before. Of _course_! It was that girl who had run away from him when he had met Sam and Dean. He didn't even know her name, but here she was—in a memory, in his house. She had been carrying a bag of groceries, but she dropped them to the floor as she saw Jimmy. "Oh, my God! Jimmy!" she screamed. Jimmy looked at her, smiling. He took his hand out of the boiling water, and her face changed into a mask of puzzlement as she saw nothing wrong with it. "It's ok, Ivy." He had said to her. "Castiel the angel told me that if I have faith, everything will be fine. He said I was the chosen one." As he was explaining this to the girl, apparently, Ivy, he felt the presence of Amelia behind him, staring like Ivy. _

_Mere days later, Ivy and Amelia told him that he could either get help, or leave the house. _

_Jimmy walked out of the door. "Castiel, help me." He pleaded, tears in his eyes. Suddenly, there was a flash of light._

The memory ended, and Jimmy put a hand to his cheek, pulling it away wet with tears. He hesitated no longer, but rang the doorbell to his house. His wife answered the door. "Oh, my God, Jimmy." She said, astonished.

Jimmy smiled at her. "I know you're confused. But I got help. So let's try to mend this. We should take it slow."

Amelia smiled, tears running down her face. "How about dinner?"

Jimmy smiled and swept her up into his arms, both of them crying. Jimmy felt someone hugging his waist, too, and he looked down to see his daughter, Claire, hugging him.

"Oh, Claire, honey." He said, choking on tears.

Later on, Jimmy, Amelia and Claire sat down to eat dinner. Claire and Amelia looked at Jimmy, as if expecting something, but Jimmy just took a sandwich and took a bite.

His wife, eyes lowered, followed suit, but Claire asked, "Daddy, aren't you going to say prayers?"

Jimmy stopped chewing, suddenly not very hungry. "No, honey, I don't think I am."

Jimmy could feel the tears coming again as he touched his daughter's arm. "Daddy, why are you crying?" she asked him.

Jimmy smiled. "Because I'm happy." Jimmy answered.

"We're a family again."

As they were just starting to dig into dessert, the doorbell rang, and Amelia answered it. "Jimmy, it's your friend!" she called. Jimmy walked into the front room, coming face to face with his friend, who smiled and said, "How are you, Jimmy? I heard you got back." Jimmy frowned. "But I didn't tell—" He stopped as his friends eyes flashed completely black. "Oh no." Jimmy said. He suddenly realized that maybe Dean and Sam weren't that crazy after all.

"Jimmy!" Jimmy's wife screamed as he punched his possessed friend to the ground. He then grabbed Claire and his wife, and ran to the pantry. He locked them inside, wincing as Amelia screamed at him, hugging Claire tightly. He hunted around for salt, and poured it in a line across the doorway. "Don't cross this line!" He shouted, hearing the demon's footsteps nearing. "It'll protect us!" His wife beat at his arms. "No! You told me you were better! You're crazy!" She pushed Claire in front of Jimmy. Claire, scared, turned the doorknob. "Run, Claire!" Amelia shouted. Jimmy opened the door, stepping over the line of salt. "Claire, NO!" he shouted, being pushed to the side as his wife ran out of the pantry as well. Suddenly, Jimmy heard her stop running and gasp. He ran to his wife, where she was standing in horror. The demons, for there were two now, were holding Claire at gunpoint. "Not another step." The woman demon said. "Such a pretty little one." The man, Jimmy's former friend, said softly.

"Let her go!" Jimmy heard a voice say.

Sam and Dean broke down the door into the house, and a knife flashed out of Sam's coat pocket as Jimmy pulled Claire to safety. With one stroke, Sam killed the man, and Dean wrestled the woman on the floor. Sam suddenly held out a hand, as if to signal stop, but instead his hand tightened into a fist, and the demon woman convulsed, black smoky stuff spewing out of her mouth until she was on the floor, unconscious, the black smoke nowhere to be found. Dean ran to Jimmy and his family, and pushed them out the door.

"We gotta go. Come on, Sam!"

Dean looked back, and Sam tried to follow, but he took one step and fell to the floor.

Dean pushed Jimmy and the two girls into the Impala, and was going to run back for Sam, who still wasn't following, but a blur whizzed past him, shouting, "Start the car!"

Dean realized it was Ivy, and he obediently hopped into the Chevy as Ivy entered the house. She found Sam on the floor, struggling to get up, face pale, a trickle of blood running from his nose. She grabbed him, and together they made their way to the car, which soon after sped away into the darkness.


End file.
